After the Storm Breaks
by dfcfanfics
Summary: Change has come to Paris... and not everyone is comfortable with all of it yet. Two new relationships are blossoming... they are, right? Maybe certain things need to be said before real progress can be made. Tonight, they will be. MINOR spoilers for Season 3 in general / the finales; relationship-based spoilers, not plot-based. Puppeteer 2 is significant. One-shot.


MiraculElse #14: After the Storm Breaks

by DFC

(Timeline: About three weeks after the Season 3 finales. Not DIRECTLY tied to them, however.)

* * *

Marinette hopped off of the back of Luka's bicycle, standing by his side in front of the entrance to her parents' bakery.

"Hey, I need to catch up with some things at home. Call me later?" Luka asked her.

"Of course," she replied, with a warm smile.

Marinette gave him a peck on the lips - something that, she had to admit, was so much more natural than working-up-the-nerve-to-do-it-in-front-of-everybody these days - and waved as he pedaled off into the distance. She stood still for a moment, letting the afternoon wash over her... then went inside.

"Hi, honey," her mother called as she entered the bakery. "How was the party?"

"Oh... good," said Marinette. "We had fun."

As her daughter left it at that and trotted through the store, heading up the stairs to her room, Sabine gave her a slightly puzzled look.

_She seems happy enough, I suppose,_ she thought. _Luka seems like a nice enough boy, and he's certainly very fond of her, and he seems to treat her very well. I was a little anxious about her dating an older boy, but he seems like an excellent choice the more that I get to know him. But I know when I had my first boyfriend, I was a little bit more... how shall I put it..._

_...enthusiastic?_

* * *

As the family gathered for supper, Sabine looked her daughter over without being obvious about it, trying to divine whether or not there was anything she ought to know about.

"Did you have a good time at Mylène's party?" Tom asked, making conversation while spooning out some vegetables.

"Yeah, I did," Marinette replied. "We don't get a lot of chances to get the whole gang together outside of school, so this was nice."

"Who all were there?" asked Sabine.

"Oh... Alya and Nino, Juleka and Rose, Ivan, of course. Kim and Ondine stopped by, Max was there, Nathaniel and Marc... Alix made an appearance..." Marinette recited, ticking off her mental checklist. "Luka and I, and then some of her friends from outside of school that I didn't know."

"Your other friend couldn't make it, again?" her father wondered.

Marinette paused for a moment before answering. "Oh, yeah. Adrien and Kagami were there, too."

"Mm-hmm," Sabine replied, making a mental note. "Everything's still good with them?"

"As far as I know," said Marinette, flatly. "I talked to Kagami the other night; she seems really happy lately, which is good. And I see Adrien in school."

"I haven't heard as much about him recently," Tom offered, then cut himself off when Sabine shot him a look.

"Well..." Marinette evaded, "he's been busy with Kagami, and I've been busy with Luka... he's still my friend, but I guess you could say he's not my top priority any more."

"It's good that you're still pretty close with them," Sabine said, while passing the meat platter her daughter's way. "It's easy to let hard feelings pile up sometimes."

"What's there to be sore about?" asked Marinette. "Thank you," she noted, taking the offered plate. "I mean, neither of them owed me anything before they got together... and I have Luka now."

"That you do," Tom smiled. "You said he's coming over on Saturday?"

"Uh-huh," Marinette replied, a small smile reemerging. "Nothing major, just a hang-out date. I've got some movies picked out."

"That'll be nice," her mother agreed. "I'm glad the two of you are taking things slowly, just seeing how it goes, naturally."

"Yep," Marinette said, turning her attention down to her plate. Absently, she added, "No reason to rush."

* * *

Marinette stretched out on her bed that evening, sketchpad in hand, focusing on an assortment of drawings. Two or three rough sketches of dresses were lying close to her, one mostly scratched out, the others with more embellishment and detail on them. Her current focus was on more of a slice-of-life drawing, a small gathering of some kind in a courtyard.

Tikki hovered nearby, silently, choosing to simply watch over her host and friend for a few minutes.

_I need to keep an eye on her for a while,_ Tikki reasoned. _With the recent... changes in her life, and the added responsibility she has now... which is HUGE... she's got to be running on fumes. She was stretching herself pretty thin _before_ all of that. The way she broke down in Luka's arms that day, only to have life throw that much more at her right afterwards... _

_...Well, I'm just glad that she has someone like him who's there for her. But she's still keeping a lot of emotions pretty tightly penned in... and she may have to stay that way._

Marinette turned her head slightly, as if sensing Tikki's presence. "Oh, hi," she smiled. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Tikki said, floating a little closer. "Just watching you draw."

"It's nothing fancy," replied Marinette, turning back to her pencils and paper. "Just whatever comes to mind."

"Sometimes that's the best. Just letting your imagination wander. It's a good way to relax."

"Mmm-hmm."

Tikki felt that line of conversation being gently closed off, but prodded at it anyway. "How have you been doing lately, by the way?" she asked. "You had me really worried about you, not too long ago."

Marinette turned her way again, indulging her. "I'm all right, I guess. A lot of the shock has worn off, and I'm kind of getting back into a routine now," she replied. "I have a lot of things that I have to think about, but I have a lot that I... don't have to overthink any more, too."

"Agreed," Tikki noted. "If you need someone to bounce things off of... you know I'm always here."

"Of course, Tikki," smiled Marinette. "Thank you for that."

Marinette's head went back to her sketchpad, and Tikki took that as a sign to disengage for now. She flew back to Marinette's desk feeling reasonably happy.

_So far, so good, I guess,_ thought Tikki. _One day at at time._

* * *

A short while later, Marinette's phone buzzed. She picked it up with a smile, assuming that it was her boyfriend... then realized that it was the generic message-tone, not the one she'd given Luka. She looked down at it...

**[Adrien] Hey. Do you have a minute?**

A mixture of up and down ran through her, until she equalized it through force of will. Despite herself, she smiled. _A few weeks ago, I would have been bouncing off the walls seeing this,_ she thought.

She texted back:

**[Marinette] Sure. What's up?**

**[Adrien] Just checking in on you. How have you been?**

**[Adrien] We really haven't talked much lately.**

_Small wonder, _thought Marinette, half-smiling.

**[Marinette] Pretty good. Keeping busy. Just drawing some things tonight for something to do.**

**[Adrien] I was wondering...**

**[Adrien] I have something I need to ask you. But I kind of don't want to ask it. I feel funny about this.**

That got Marinette's full attention.

**[Marinette] It's okay. What's on your mind?**

His response ended any chance of her doing more drawing that night:

**[Adrien] ****...Are WE okay? You and I?**

* * *

Marinette stared at her phone for a moment.

_How am I supposed to even begin to answer that?_

After some consideration, she typed:

**[Marinette] Do you think that we're not?**

**[Adrien] Yes and no?**

**[Adrien] Let me explain.**

**[Marinette] Please do.**

**[Adrien] Look, I know this much for sure... we're always going to be friends, no matter what.**

**[Adrien] You mean so much to me, and I hope you always know that.**

**[Adrien] That day at the museum, when I got my mind all mixed up over... I worked all of that out in my head. I was being silly.**

**[Adrien] I needed to stop worrying about "does she even want me as a friend" and just BE a better friend to you.**

**[Marinette] You didn't do anything wrong that day. I'm the one who was acting weird.**

**[Marinette] And I really don't want to relive all of that again right now, if that's okay.**

**[Adrien] That's fine! I agree.**

**[Adrien] And I was so happy to see you and Kagami becoming friends. I felt like the three of us were really connecting for a while.**

**[Adrien] But ever since she and I got together... maybe it's just me...**

**[Adrien] It feels like you've been kind of distant ever since. Like today, at the party. **

**[Adrien] We were both hoping to catch up with you and have fun together, but it felt like we could barely get near you.**

There was a pause, while Marinette tried to think of anything she could write and feel comfortable sending.

**[Adrien] You were there with Luka, of course, and we didn't want to take you away from him...**

**[Marinette] He wouldn't have kept me away, he's not like that.**

**[Adrien] I know, I know! He's great. I am really happy that you two have each other now.**

**[Adrien] But it didn't feel like he was keeping you away from us... more like you just didn't feel comfortable near us.**

**[Marinette] ...**

**[Adrien] Kagami looked at me on the way home and said "FIX THIS." She really likes you, and she misses you.**

**[Adrien] And so do I.**

**[Adrien] And I just... I need to clear the air between us. To figure this out. **

**[Adrien] Can we do that?**

**[Marinette] ...Okay.**

* * *

_It's not okay, _she thought. _I'm trying to lock those feelings away for good and you're poking them with a stick right now._

_But I guess we have to do this._

* * *

**[Marinette] Adrien...**

**[Marinette] I'd like to think that you know me pretty well by now. Better than most people do.**

**[Marinette] And if you've talked to Kagami... I think she understands where I'm at.**

**[Marinette] So I feel like you ought to already know part of why I'm keeping some distance.**

**[Adrien] I... think that I might.**

**[Marinette] Say it, then. Because we both know that I can't.**

**[Adrien] Do you remember that day that you wrote out those lessons for me and dropped them off at my house?**

**[Marinette] Yeah. It was right after Stormy Weather attacked again, wasn't it?**

**[Adrien] That was it, yeah. **

**[Adrien] You wrote me a little note with it. **

**[Adrien] And something about the note looked familiar to me.**

**[Adrien] So I got out a Valentine card that someone had sent me, but didn't sign her name to...**

**[Adrien] It had a very sweet poem on it. "My heart belongs to you," it ended.**

**[Marinette] ...You kept that?**

**[Adrien] Of COURSE I kept that! No one had ever sent me anything like that... said anything like that to me... ever.**

**[Adrien] I thought I knew who'd sent it then, hoped I knew, but I was wrong. Because I compared the handwriting to your note's.**

**[Adrien] Was that card from _you_, Marinette?**

* * *

_Of course it_ was, Marinette thought. _And of course you finally realized that NOW._

**[Marinette] Who were you hoping it was from?**

**[Adrien] The... girl I was in love with.**

Marinette did some mental math.

**[Marinette] Wait. Did you even _know_ her then?**

**[Adrien] Who?**

**[Marinette] Kagami!**

**[Adrien] No... I hadn't met her yet. You were there the day I met Kagami, the day you tried out for the Fencing team, remember?**

That stopped Marinette in her tracks.

_He's right about that... the Valentine was long before that._

_But if it WASN'T Kagami then... who could it have been?_

* * *

**[Adrien] Can I double back to that Valentine, though?**

**[Marinette] If we must. Do we have to? It's a little late for worrying about that.**

**[Adrien] I kind of think this is important. I'm sorry.**

**[Adrien] I thought about that for a long while that day... and about some other things that you'd said and done.**

**[Adrien] You'd told me several times that you and I were just friends, that you were just really into fashion.**

**[Adrien] The day after the TV thing happened with Jagged Stone, and then that day at the museum.**

**[Adrien] That card got me thinking about it again, and I realized something.**

A pause followed.

**[Marinette] Adrien?**

**[Adrien] ...I really messed up, didn't I?**

**[Marinette] Depends on what you mean by that.**

**[Adrien] I think you had a crush on me at one point... and I never picked up on that when you had it.**

Marinette teared up reading that. _Of course he didn't know,_ she accused herself; _you did a fantastic job of ensuring that he wouldn't, with what you didn't say to him and what you DID!_

**[Adrien] Is it true?**

**[Marinette] All but one part.**

**[Adrien] Which is?**

**[Marinette] You thinking that it had ever stopped.**

* * *

Marinette stared at the SEND button on her phone, wondering why she had allowed herself to press it after typing that last message.

_Too late now,_ she thought.

Seconds later, something else drew her attention:

**[Incoming Video Call - Adrien Agreste]**

* * *

It rang for several seconds, then stopped.

**[Adrien] Please answer.**

It rang again, and this time Marinette picked up.

* * *

"I don't know that I want to do this," Marinette said, very quietly, looking at Adrien's stunned face on her phone.

"This isn't something I can do over text messages," Adrien replied, just as quietly. "You really meant that?"

"Stop. Just _stop,"_ Marinette insisted. "I am not going to do this because _I know what is going to happen_ and it's going to tear me apart! You are going to beat yourself up over something that _wasn't your fault_ and that's going to hurt me even more."

"How can any of this be not my fault?" lamented Adrien.

"Because I _lied_ to you! Several times! The day at my locker, oh, of _course_ I was just into fashion, no, I totally didn't have a crush on you, Adrien. The day in the museum, oh, of _course_ I was just kidding and roleplaying and I couldn't _possibly_ love you the way that I'd said. The kiss at the picnic, of _course_ I only aimed for your cheek because it was just a thank you for your sweet words, and not because I was too scared to kiss you for real."

Marinette covered her face with her hands, partly to hold back any tears that escaped, partly so she couldn't see Adrien's response... but the quiver in his voice told her that she could damn well _hear it_.

"I didn't... I never... Marinette... why didn't you ever just _tell_ me?" begged Adrien, audibly shaken.

"Adrien..." she said, her face still covered, "have you ever had someone that you were totally in love with, head over heels, completely out of your league but you couldn't help yourself?"

"I have," Adrien replied, without hesitation.

"Did you just tell _her? _Could you just look her in the eye and let it all out?"

Adrien paused before answering. "I did. I know how hard it was to get the courage up... but I did. And I got shot down repeatedly. Completely."

Marinette looked at her phone once more. "You _did?" _she asked, startled.

"I did! I tried and tried to the point where she was _angry_ with me that I was still trying. I didn't know what else to do," he admitted. "I couldn't turn those feelings off. They're still there."

"Who was it?" wondered Marinette. "Is she someone that I'd know?"

"I can't tell you that," Adrien evaded.

"You can't, or you _won't?"_ Marinette sniffled. "Because I'd really like to know who the dream girl was that I couldn't compare to-"

"I _can't_! I just... can't,_" _gasped Adrien. "There are so many reasons why I can't. I'm sorry. I wish I could say more."

He watched his friend crumble on the other side of the phone call, and his stomach sank down to his feet. _And you COULD compare to her, Marinette. Because I compared you to her right there at the picnic. And you kissed me for that, and... oh, God, how did I not feel what you were putting behind that kiss?_

"Well, you found that kind of courage. I just couldn't," confessed Marinette, trying not to turn blubbery. "Because I was terrified that you'd say no. You are too sweet to just laugh at me, I know that much, but part of me figured that I would just pour my heart out and you'd have no idea how to react."

"I would never have... Marinette..." stammered Adrien.

"And I was right," she muttered. "Because you had someone else who had your heart all along. I never had a chance."

"You're wrong about that," Adrien said... then tried to yank it back, but found out that words don't work that way.

* * *

"Wh-_what?"_ Marinette cried out.

"Give me a second. If I'm going to say this, I have to get it just right," said Adrien, his eyes closing tightly.

"You are _not_ going to say something like that and just leave it hanging," begged Marinette, staring hard at him. "I will crawl through this phone, Adrien."

Adrien steeled his courage...

"You have been someone special to me from the day that we met, Marinette," he began. "One of my first friends at Françoise Dupont... and one of my best friends. And that's all that I'd ever asked of you because, well, I wasn't sure _how_ to ask for anything more. Or if I wanted to. Or what to do about the girl I can't talk about that I was so helplessly crushing on."

_Go on,_ her eyes screamed silently.

"You're partly right. I let myself be so consumed by the other girl that I didn't even consider anyone else for a very long time," Adrien confessed. "Because I don't know how all this works. I still don't. I thought I'd found my soulmate, my perfect match, and we were meant for each other and someday she'd realize that."

"That sounds kind of familiar," said Marinette, then winced when she saw Adrien react. "I'm sorry, that wasn't... please, keep going."

"But the longer I've known you, Marinette... the more you have been sneaking into my thoughts in ways that I didn't expect. We've been through a lot of crazy things together and, well... I think my feelings for you kept growing, too," Adrien said, haltingly. "There have been times I wanted to say something, but I held back. A lot of times. That day on the Startrain, where you fell asleep on my shoulder, and then I woke up and you were still there... I thought my heart was going to melt."

"Mine, too," allowed Marinette. "Why didn't _you_ say something?"

"Because you had Luka."

* * *

It was Marinette's turn to look very, very confused.

"No, I didn't," she replied. "Not then."

"I... I don't understand," Adrien stammered. "That day at the skating rink, you two looked so close, so perfect together. How compatible the two of you seemed, working on the costumes for that Kitty Section performance. The day he was Akumatized, and he confessed his feelings to you, that he was in love with you. By the time I realized that you had been crushing on me... I was so sure that it was long since over, and you'd moved on."

Marinette simply shook her head.

"Luka was a good friend of mine for a long time... just like you were. You _are,"_ Marinette corrected herself. "But we didn't start dating until after Chloé had her little meltdown... and after you and Kagami were together."

"So, that day in the museum..." Adrien gasped, with increasing alarm.

"Alya pushed me into pretending to talk to your statue so I could practice getting the words out to you. But then you weren't a statue, and I freaked out, and then I panicked and I lied to cover it up," Marinette explained. "Luka and I weren't _there_ yet."

"Oh, _God_," lamented Adrien. "And then later, in the car..."

"...you told me about the girl you were in love with, and I knew you meant Kagami..." she continued.

"...But I didn't! I was talking about... the other... but..."

"W-wait!" Marinette's visible alarm matched Adrien's. "So _right there_ that day, we were both available, and we were both thinking about each other that way..."

"And if I'd only... If I'd known that you were..." Adrien trailed off.

"This can't be happening," Marinette whispered. "Not now."

* * *

Both fell silent.

"What do we even do about this?" Adrien managed to say, eventually.

"We don't," Marinette insisted. "If it was ever going to happen... it's not meant to happen like this, that's for sure. And I will not let you hurt Kagami."

"I don't want to hurt either of you," sighed Adrien.

"But you and Kagami are together now. She's crazy about you; I know that, we've talked about you. She's really happy with you, and she'll be really good for you," Marinette forced herself to say. "And you're not even going to _think about_ changing your mind about that just because I finally opened my mouth."

It took another lengthy pause for Adrien to speak again. "Can I tell you a secret, Marinette?" he asked. "And I don't mean this as any kind of confession or be-with-me-instead line. But I really need my best friend right now to help me figure something important out."

Automatically, Marinette's mood shifted to concern. "Tell me, please," she said.

"I don't know what I'm _doing_ with Kagami," Adrien said, flatly.

To her incredulous stare, Adrien responded quickly. "Let me say it better than that; that came out wrong," he blurted out. "I think she's wonderful. I think she's pretty, and smart, and daring, and really sweet deep down. She and I come from the same kinds of messed-up families, and we can relate to that on a lot of levels. If I was going to go out and say 'I need a girlfriend' and pick one out of a lineup, she's a kind of person that I would choose. And she reached out to me, she wanted to be that for me... and I said 'Yes.'"

"And things are fine between us, don't get me wrong," Adrien continued. "I love spending time with her. She's really opened up to me as a person, and I like everything I've seen about her. She's special to me... but I kind of feel like I'm going through the motions as a _boyfriend."_

"What do you mean by that?" asked Marinette.

"Just what I said. I like the romance, I like the kissing, I like the something-extra on top of friendship... but there's just something... missing. I don't know what to call it. A spark, maybe," he explained. "I'm glad that I'm experiencing it, and I'm really glad that _she_ is into me the way that she is..."

"...But you feel like you should be feeling something more than that. Something that just rocks your world, sweeps you off your feet, and turns you into goo every time they look at you," Marinette finished for him.

"_Yes!_" exclaimed Adrien. "That's exactly what I'm like, and I really don't like it that I _am_ feeling that way."

"That's how I am with Luka," Marinette confessed. "Waiting for that something extra."

* * *

"He's handsome, he's kind, he's _so_ sweet," she continued. "He's super-patient with me. I was worried that, with someone older and more experienced, he'd be pushing me to do... certain things, but he knows how new I am to dating and that I _am_ still maturing and he's letting me take baby steps. He treats me like I'm made of solid gold, and I don't know how to handle that sometimes."

"No spark?" wondered Adrien.

"_Some_ spark_,_" smiled Marinette. "Back when I was still crushing on you, I met him, and I'd be a liar if I said that he didn't turn my head a bit. He was the first boy who ever gave _me_ those eyes, that look that says 'I'm into you,' you know?"

"I know just what you mean," Adrien confirmed.

"And you were out of the picture, and I was _beyond_ stressed over a ton of things, and he was sweet and understanding and he was _right there_ and it just felt... right to do," Marinette said. "And it still feels right. But it's not like... _that_ was."

"Is that wrong?" asked Adrien. "If we leave... _this_ where we just found it, and we keep going with who and what we have, is that... I don't know, _settling_?"

"No. Definitely not," Marinette emphasized. "Because you have someone who thinks the world of you, and so do I."

He didn't look completely convinced yet, so she continued. "That day at the skating rink, when she helped me up, Kagami gave me a friendly warning. She didn't have to, she barely knew me, but she told me to act soon because 'she never hesitates'. But you know what? She lied about that. She _did_ hesitate. She gave me every chance to just _tell you_ that I was in love with you."

_I just said that,_ thought Marinette. _I just said those words out loud._

"And I didn't, and I didn't, and then I _did_ and I lied and said that I hadn't, and I didn't, and she said, 'Okay, then it's my turn now.' And I'm fine with that. Because I got to know her better, and I really like her, and she's the kind of person you need right now. And she deserves to be happy, too."

"And I know Luka pretty well. And I really like _him_. And I know that he'll be so good to you," Adrien echoed.

"And I really think that that needs to be enough."

* * *

Adrien let that sink in for a moment.

"Did I answer your original question?" Marinette asked, gently.

"And then some. I think 'you and I' are going to be okay. I don't know if _I'm_ going to be okay..." he replied, nervously.

"Of course you are. Just like I'm probably going to hang up and have a nice long cry, but then once that's out of my system I'm going to go to school, and I'm going to give you a _huge_ hug when I see you because we both really need one, and you're going to be what you've always been to me. A wonderful friend," Marinette sniffled.

"And then before everyone starts wondering what that hug means, we'll go to class and talk about who we're each dating," Adrien smiled. "You know what's funny about this, Marinette?"

"I'd love to know what's funny about this," she echoed. "I think we both need a laugh right about now."

"You spent a bunch of time wanting to be my girlfriend. I spent some time wanting to be your boyfriend," Adrien declared. "And now... we're not that... but it feels like we're something _deeper_ than that. Something closer, something more important to each other. And we each have someone else now for romance, and neither of us know what to do with them."

"Yeah," Marinette said, a small giggle slipping out. "Maybe, deep down, we _do_ know what we're doing."

"We should be so lucky," smiled Adrien. "Marinette... this meant so much to me. _You_ mean so much to me. I'm sorry that I put you through this... but I'm glad we understand each other better now."

"Me, too. See you tomorrow in school?" asked Marinette.

"You know it."

* * *

Eavesdropping just as much as plausible deniability would allow, Tikki allowed herself a slow exhalation of relief. Very slowly, she floated in close to Marinette, who was visibly emotional now that she wasn't on camera.

"Marinette..." she ventured in a soft voice, "that was very..."

"I. Need. A _MINUTE," _Marinette blurted, before plummeting face-first onto her pillow.

Tikki landed next to her, waiting for the quiet sobs to slow down. "I was going to say," she started again, "that was very brave of you. And kind. And thoughtful. And painful to watch."

"But we needed it," whimpered Marinette, turning her way. "We so needed it. Losing Adrien as a _friend _would destroy me, Tikki... but I didn't know what to do next about him. And I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with me, about Luka... about what Adrien said..."

"No, Marinette," Tikki consoled her. "Look at it this way. You've been chasing Adrien for more than a year... _and_ he was the one that woke up certain feelings in you in the first place. Of course that's still intense! But you and Luka are still brand new, and you have plenty of time to grow together... and if you don't grow that way, you'll cross that bridge when you get to it."

"And in the meantime," she added as Marinette sat up, "you have a loving boyfriend _and_ a close male friend who'd do anything for you. Just not in the order you'd originally planned for those two."

"You're right," Marinette smiled, drying her eyes. "And I think I need to do a couple of things tonight. One is to give Luka a call... and see if he'd mind if I add two more to movie night on Saturday."

"You want to do that?" Tikki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, if he doesn't mind. Just to show Kagami and Luka that Adrien and I are friends... and we're both comfortable staying that way, and we both know who else we've got. If the four of us can all get along together, I think both relationships will be stronger. And if Luka would rather it just be the two of us, I'll ask Kagami to go shopping with me sometime and we'll talk it out then."

"Definitely ask him first, and tell him why. You don't want him thinking you want to add Adrien to your Date Night to date _him,"_ advised Tikki.

"I think I have some ways to keep him from worrying about that," winked Marinette. "And the other thing for tonight... I need to get out of here. Want to go for a run?"

"Why not?"

"Spots on!"

* * *

A red blur shot across the skyline of Paris, heading nowhere in particular but getting there fast.

_One nice thing about superpowers,_ Ladybug thought, _is that when you want to take your mind off of things and just let the adrenaline drive for a while... there's nothing like them._

About ten minutes into her impromptu rooftop therapy, a familiar black blur caught her eye, and she altered her course to intercept it.

"_Hey, stranger!" _she yelled...

* * *

"Hello, my Lady! Fancy meeting you here," panted Chat Noir, catching his breath atop an office building.

"A nice surprise. There isn't anything out tonight I should know about, is there?" Ladybug asked. "No Akumas? I don't think it's a patrol night."

"Not that I know of," Chat replied. "I just... uh... did you ever have one of those moods where you can either use your brain or your body, and your brain's the wrong answer for a little while?"

"_Yes_," agreed Ladybug, sitting on the roof's edge with her legs swinging gently. "You read my mind. I just had a moment where I was either going to scream or cry or run, so I picked run."

"Anything I can help with?" asked Chat, sitting down next to her. "I'm all ears. Pointy ones, even."

"No, Kitty," Ladybug smiled. "It's kind of personal. Relationship stuff. Almost-relationship stuff, more like."

Chat tilted his head slightly. "Really? That's interesting. Because I just got out of a conversation a little while ago where I... uh..."

Ladybug stared at Chat.

Chat stared at Ladybug.

"Oh, I know what I was going to tell you if I saw you tonight," Chat mumbled, changing the subject as efficiently as possible. "I saw that Andre's ice cream cart is out tonight in the Latin Quarter. IF you'd be interested."

"Andre's Sweetheart Ice Cream? Where young love blossoms and hearts entwine? Nice try, Kitty," she grinned.

"_As friends_. If your ice cream isn't dark chocolate and golden vanilla, I promise not to say a word," Chat swore. "Honestly, that would startle me so much if it was that I'd drop my own cone."

"Well..."

"C'mon, Bugaboo," Chat tempted her. "You sound like you could use someone to just go out and have _fun_ with tonight, no pressure. And so could I. I'll race you there?"

Ladybug gave him a warmer smile. _You know, Chat Noir... when you're not making me explain to you that I'm not your girlfriend... sometimes you can be exactly who and what I need,_ she thought.

"On one condition," Ladybug declared, standing up.

"Anything," Chat replied.

"...Loser buys!" With a flick of her wrist, a giggling Ladybug shot off like a rocket with her yo-yo, heading for the Latin Quarter.

"HEY! That's not fair..." yelled Chat as the merry chase began...

* * *

~fin~


End file.
